


Shadows Will Fall Behind You (Working Title)

by FaustaAlice



Category: Original Work
Genre: Demons, Drama, F/F, F/M, I'm Bad At Tagging, Jack the Ripper - Freeform, M/M, Mermaids, Other, Swordfighting, The Spring-heeled Jack, Victorian Fantasy, Victorian Science Fiction, Well not really, fey, sorry :)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-18 13:39:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8163883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaustaAlice/pseuds/FaustaAlice
Summary: London, 1891. A young woman finds out that the world is filled with mythical creatures such as fey, demons and nymphs. With the help of  her friend James and a sassy mermaid, Alice will try to solve crimes committed by those creatures. But she'll soon realize that a few monsters are the least of her problems.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys!  
> This is my first time writing anything so I'd really like to know what you think.  
> Please leave comments or kudos if you like it.  
> Thanks :)

June 26th, 1891

My name is Alice Gwendolyn Flora Bonnett. I wish to write a very dramatic introduction in case someone finds this journal but, as you see, it's not really working.   
So, as I've already said, my name is Alice and I am twenty-three years old. I live in London, quite close to Whitechapel. I believe you've heard quite a lot about it over the past three years. I am a musical theatre performer but that's not really important right now. The reason for writing this journal is that I'm about to do something stupidly dangerous and possibly life-threatening and I'm not really sure what's going to happen next. If you've heard of the Whitechapel murders then you've probably heard of Jack The Ripper – five girls dead and he was never caught... I have been following the story for the past three years. Now, rumours have started in Whitechapel once more. Three more bodies found and no suspect other than jack the Ripper. The police are baffled.  
The thing is that I believe this wasn't the first time. About fifty years ago there was a legend going around of the Spring-Heeled Jack. A few girls were attacked by what they describes as a demonic man with glowing eyes. Does that sound familiar? The only difference is that the girls in 1837 survived. Why? Witnesses. There was always someone to stop him. So yes, I believe Jack The Ripper and The Spring-Heeled Jack are the same person. But there's only one problem – there's a fifty year gap between the two cases... No human could have survived that long and still be able to attack people. But what if. What if he's not human... Anyway, this is silly... Why am I so fascinated by this? Well, if I'm lucky, I'm going to find out soon enough... I'm beginning to see a pattern in his kills. If I'm right, I might know where he will strike next.  
Tonight I'll go there. I'll stop him. Stop him before he makes another kill. I'm aware that I must be incredibly overestimating my strength but it's what I've always dreamed of – being this vigilante, this warrior, helping people.


	2. Chapter 2

June 27th, 1891

I still cannot comprehend what has happened to me during these past 24 hours. This must be some sort of dream. I must be hallucinating. Well, if it's not... Then there's so much out there that we don't even know about...  
I stopped him... Well, at least for now...  
At around 3 o'clock at night I was waiting in the street, knowing that, if my calculations were correct, he would soon appear to claim his latest victim. He did...  
The streets at this time were quiet... The drunks had either fallen asleep in their taverns and pubs on gone home.  
The only person I saw walking down the street was a lone working girl. I realized that must be it and hid behind the corner. Suddenly, I heard a sound and a muffled scream. I jumped out of my hiding place to see a dark figure grab the girl by her neck and cover her mouth. I charged towards him holding my sword (yes, I have a sword). He dropped the girl and turned to me. His face... His eye were burning with blue fire and his mouth was a gaping hole with two rows of teeth as sharp as needles. I screamed. He pushed me towards a wall and ran. I hit my head and when I woke up he was gone... And so was the girl. I was so shook by this encounter, I knew, there was only one person I could go to – Jem/James.  
Before I go further, I should probably tell you more about Jem/James. We live in the same building – the angry old landlady Mrs. Whittock on the first floor, James on the second one and I on the third. When I first came to London after my mother dearest died I needed to find an apartment. Well, the riches that my grandmother Flora “inherited” and then left them to me helped me again. I rented an apartment in this old beautiful home near Whitechapel. Incidentally, Jem had rented an apartment on the floor below. We met, we chatted, we bonded over our mean landlady and that's how we became friends.   
Now back to the story.  
While I was running through the dark streets of London, a million thoughts were running through my brain – yet, none of them coherent enough. Once I reached our building, I ran straight up to the second flood, without even greeting the landlady, who seemed rather shocked by someone barging in in such early hours of the morning. When I reached Jem's door, I started knocking on it like my life depended on it. The door slammed open. He showed up in the doorway looking like I'd just woken him up, which I later realized I did.  
“Who's th-, Alice, oh my good... you look awful... What happened?”, he exclaimed.  
With loose strands of my hair hanging around my face and terror in my eyes – I truly must have looked awful.  
I said nothing and just hugged him. He silently led me inside and sat me down on his armchair.  
“Jem, you wouldn't believe it... I don't... How...”, I started.   
“Wait.” he said and left. When he came back he was holding to cups of tea. “This will help you calm down.”  
Once I got over the initial shock, I told him everything that had happened.   
At first, he wasn't convinced. “Are you sure? I mean, you did hit your head pretty hard...”   
I cut him off -“Of course I'm sure! This all happened before I hit my head... Wait...Do you remember those Spring-heeled Jack cases in the 1830's I told you about?”  
“Yes,”, he answered “But what has this got to do with anything?”  
I was almost smiling now, “Don't you get it? Remember, what was the description given to the police by one of the victims – blue glowing eyes, unnaturally sharp teeth and claws! Oh my god, Jem, I was right! I told you, Jack the Ripper and the Spring-heeled Jack are the same person! Well, I'm not sure if it was a person but they are the same thing...”  
“Alright, so if this thing is real – what is it? It should be at least seventy years old by now...”  
“I've no clue.” I replied. “Some sort of a mythical creature... A demon, perhaps... A goblin...”  
“Well,” he exclaimed, “Don't you have those old books that your grandmother got on her travels?”  
“Yes! Yes, I do... Well, grandmother never did know what those books were for... She stole them off that weird ship, because she thought they were valuable. Never did manage to sell them, though. I used to read them when I was little but those weren't stories... They were like... Like an encyclopedia of weird creatures. Never thought they could be real but I guess it's worth a try”.  
Well, I should probably stop again and explain – my grandmother was a pirate – the great Flora Burn. She died when I was only a year old so all I have of her are some stories, a few old books, quite a bit of gold and my most prized possession – a pistol with a golden tiger on the side. My mother never really knew I had it, I just kind of took it because it was just lying around gathering dust.

After my conversation with Jem, he and I went to my apartment to find those books. After a few hours of turning fragile dusty pages and reading some of the unpronounceable name out loud I stopped.  
“Jem, did you find anything?” I asked.  
“No, not what we need at least... But I did find this map of Britain with the main habitats of some creatures. Although, I'm not sure if we'll have any use for it no-”  
“Wait,” I interrupted him. “I have an idea. In this book it says that merfolk are the greatest gossipers of the supernatural world. If this thing isn't in the books, maybe they might know something.”


End file.
